Editing Generative grammar (section)

== Subfields ==

Research in generative grammar spans a number of subfields. These subfields are also studied in non-generative approaches.

=== Syntax ===

Syntax studies the rule systems which combine smaller units such as [[morphemes]] into larger units such as [[phrase]]s and [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carnie|first=Andrew|title=Syntax: A Generative Introduction|author-link=Andrew Carnie|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2002|isbn=978-0-631-22543-0|page=25}}</ref> Within generative syntax, prominent approaches include [[Minimalist program|Minimalism]], [[Government and binding theory]], [[Lexical Functional Grammar|Lexical-functional grammar]] (LFG), and [[Head-driven phrase structure grammar]] (HPSG).<ref name=carnie_p5/>

=== Phonology ===

Phonology studies the rule systems which organize linguistic sounds. For example, research in phonology includes work on [[phonotactic]] rules which govern which [[phonemes]] can be combined, as well as those that determine the placement of [[stress (linguistics)|stress]], [[tone (linguistics)|tone]], and other [[suprasegmental]] elements.<ref name = "ClementsPhonology">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Phonology|encyclopedia=The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences|year=1999|last=Clements|first=Nick|author-link=Nick Clements|editor-last1=Wilson|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Keil|editor-first2=Frank|publisher=MIT Press|doi=10.7551/mitpress/4660.003.0026 |pages=639-641}}</ref> Within generative grammar, a prominent approach to phonology is [[Optimality Theory]].<ref name ="McCarthyOT"/>

=== Semantics ===

Semantics studies the rule systems that determine expressions' meanings. Within generative grammar, semantics is  a species of [[formal semantics (natural language)|formal semantics]], providing [[compositionality|compositional]] models of how the [[denotation]]s of sentences are computed on the basis of the meanings of the individual [[morpheme]]s and their syntactic structure.<ref name= "H&K">{{cite book|author1=Irene Heim|author2=Angelika Kratzer|title=Semantics in generative grammar|year=1998|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-19713-3}}</ref>